Living with Dementia – you are not alone
Sonia Newell – Development Officer – Alumni & Community Relations
Pesach
At no other time than right now, our community truly needs our support, be it by attending rallies, praying for the return of the remaining hostages held by Hamas, buying goods from Israeli businesses and for some, by being in Israel to volunteer. With Israel engaged in a war against Hamas since 7 October 2023 and hostages still being held in Gaza, the meaning behind Pesach this year takes on even more significance. The journey from bondage to freedom, from oppression to redemption was not just in the times of our ancestors at the time of the Exodus, but it is also right now. The over-arching theme of Pesach is redemption.
This year Pesach takes on a more solemn tone than usual, infused with a profound sense of longing for peace and redemption. “In every generation, we are obligated to see ourselves as though we personally came out of Egypt,” the traditional Ashkenazi Haggadah reminds us. There are even some haggadot in which special prayers are written for the hostages. No matter where you are having your Seder night, please have some thought for those who are unable to celebrate and commemorate this important Chag.
Here are a couple of Pesach recipes that appeared in last week’s Australian Jewish News as well as some interesting statistics if you are a numbers person – a typical Montefiore Home Pesach by numbers:
- 20 seder dinners held
- 1800 seder guests served
- 2500 matzah balls cooked
- 1700 boxes of matzah served
Seder Plates 2 Go
JEMS and Our Big Kitchen (OBK) present complimentary Shmura Matzah and affordable Seder Plates 2 Go for easy pick up. The kit includes a shmura matzah and a full seder plate (enough for two people).
There will be a Drive thru on Eruv Pesach to collect. Limited quantity so sign up now.
Parade – the Tony Award winning musical
Genevieve Goldman
The Tony Award-winning musical, Parade by Jason Robert Brown, is coming to Sydney next month at The Seymour Centre. A true story of Leo Frank’s fight for justice, it is about an unsolved murder that divided a nation. Parade offers both moral lessons and a timely reflection on antisemitism and racism in the world today. Our very own alumna, Genevieve Goldman (Head Madricha, Class of 2018), will stand in for the lead role of Lucille Frank on 20 May 2024 and in other performances, she will be in the Ensemble, not playing the lead. We would love to see members of our School community in the audience on Monday 20 May 2024 – get your tickets online and if you are a member of the Sydney Jewish Museum, you can use the discount code SJM at checkout for 10% off.
Genevieve, who topped the State in HSC Drama in 2018, is a graduate of the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA), where she completed a Bachelor of Arts (Music Theatre) in 2023, following a Diploma of Music Theatre at Brent Street in 2020. During her time at WAAPA, Genevieve appeared as Grizabella in Cats, Urleen in Footloose, Ensemble and U/S Mrs Lovett in Sweeney Todd and Emma Goldman in Assassins. She returned from Perth at the end of last year. She says she is thrilled to be part of this special and powerful production of Parade, as her first show out of Drama School, and we can’t wait to see what’s next for her.
Living with Dementia – you are not alone
Liane Fletcher
Past parent Liane Fletcher says, “The last five years have been a heart-wrenching time watching my mother decline due to Alzheimer’s. Sadly, I know many families who are also going through similar challenges, feeling overwhelmed and unsure where to turn. There is a lot to know about dementia, with much still left to discover and understand. It is a journey of challenges and uncertainties, with many questions along the way – what can we expect, who can we reach out to, how do we move forward and what resources and support are available.”
In honour of her mum, Dorothy Fletcher, Liane co-hosted an afternoon event last weekend for a conversation about dementia and the ageing brain, and to unravel the questions people have about this disease. The audience heard from Professor Henry Brodaty AO, Co-Director of the Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing (CHeBA), and PJ Lane, (son of TV legend Don Lane) and CHeBA Ambassador, followed by a Q&A.
A number of Emanuel alumni, including Liane’s daughters Rachel and Jessica Turtledove, Mia Shapiro, Arin Miller, Ruby Miller and Tali Kleviansky helped serve food and drinks at the event whilst guests were invited to support CHeBA’s new research project ‘Microbiome of the Brain’ and our readers here can check it out too.
If you are concerned about a loved one showing changes in their cognitive ability or change in behaviour, start at your GP and for all information and support get in touch with Dementia Australia.
Plan your Sunday activities this weekend to support Israel
Let My People Go! – Sunday 14 April 2024 at 10.00 am
Come together to rally for the release of our remaining 134 hostages. Guest speakers will include family members. Wear blue and white and bring Australian and Israeli flags.
Click here to book for the rally
Artisan Women’s Market
Kesser Torah, Dover Heights – Sunday 14 April 2024
Support Israel and support Jewish women’s small businesses, with 20% of all sales to be donated to support Merchavei Eshkol, a Primary School in the South of Israel that has been severely affected and displaced by the 7 October conflict. Register here.
Yom Hashoah
Sunday 5 May 2024
The theme for this year’s Yom Hashoah Holocaust Remembrance Day events hosted by the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies is “The Holocaust in Hungary”. The commemoration will mark 80 years since the Nazi invasion of Hungary. You are invited to attend the commemoration in person on Sunday 5 May 2024 at 6.45 pm for a 7.00 pm start at an Eastern Suburbs location (details provided one week prior). Free parking and convenient public transport options are available. Registration is essential.
The annual Memorial Service and Reading of Names will be held on Sunday 5 May 2024 at 10.30 am at the Martyrs’ Memorial, Rookwood Cemetery. Registration is essential.
The Yom Hashoah commemoration is one of the most important events on the Jewish calendar corresponding to 27th day of Nisan on the Hebrew calendar and it marks the anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. and your presence would be greatly welcomed.
Quilting for Hope
The next workshop is on Wednesday 15 May 2024. Please see the poster for details about booking plus other sessions.
Sydney Jewish Museum (SJM)
Reverberations: A Future for Memory is an interactive exhibition that gives a glimpse into the technologies being used to preserve the opportunity to interact with Holocaust survivors, in preparation when the time comes that there are sadly no more survivors to tell their own stories. Many of these 43 survivors are current or past Emanuel grandparents and great grandparents including: Paul Drexler, Olga Horak, the late Eddie Jaku, Alice Loeb, Yvonne Engelman and Egon Sonnenschein. I encourage you to see this exhibition before it closes on Sunday 19 May 2024.
Entry to the Museum is free on Sundays.
Private Art Gallery Tour
Save the date – Wednesday 14 August 2024
We hope you will join us for Salon des Refuses – the alternative Archibald and Wynne Prize selection at S.H. Ervin Gallery, Observatory Hill. More details to come soon.
We look forward to sharing our news and yours, so if you have photos and/or news you would like to share with us, please send to Sonia Newell.
Shabbat shalom, stay safe and have a great term break, as we continue to hope and pray for the safe return of all hostages still held in Gaza, and for peace to be restored in Israel soon. We wish you and your loved ones a Chag Pesach Sameach. See you again next term.